LESSON 12 June 14-20
1120 The Church's
Spfultual I'Nesources
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be
found, call ye upon him while he is
near: let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and let him return unto the Lord, and
he will have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for he will abundantly par-
don" (Isa. 55:6, 7).
As we move toward the difficult
days before the church will be home
at last, we find that we have not
been left to face the enemy alone.
There are at our disposal ample pro-
visions for successful spiritual com-
bat. Angels of God that excel in
strength are commissioned to pro-
tect our lives and lighten our bur-
dens. There are, however, some in-
itiatives that rest with us. As Adam
took the initiative, when he partook
of the forbidden fruit, so we have
decisions to make in God's recovery
plan. These can be neglected only at
the peril of our souls. The tapping of
our spiritual resources is of the first
priority.
It is the studied purpose of Satan
to provide distractions to divert our
attention from our primary needs.
He has a mixed bag of persons,
places, things, and situations that
have worked well for him through
the centuries. The list of great and
good men who have succumbed to
his wiles is endless. Patriarchs and
prophets have not been immune to
his blandishments. This has in turn
discouraged many from attempting
the good life.
There is nothing mysterious, how-
ever, about our spiritual failures. In-
variably they occur when we fail to
take advantage of our spiritual re-
sources. The promises of God are
backed up by the total resources of
heaven, and they are more than
STEEL, ARTIST, © 1969 PPPA
adequate. But there is nothing au-
tomatic about their dispensation.
Our Lord has admonished us, "Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). This
requires an exercise of the will.
Under the tree in Eden, God did
not move arbitrarily to restrain Eve
from yielding to temptation. She fas-
tened her attention on the serpent
and came under his mesmeric influ-
ence. Finally, she was believing
things that she should have doubted
and doubting things that she should
have believed. In this state of mental
confusion she sinned against God,
and Adam followed her deliberately.
Surrounded by angels of God who
longed to rescue them but were
helpless before the human will, Eve
and Adam went the way all flesh has
followed. Prayer, a study of the
Word of God, and sincere repen-
tance are basic essentials in our
search for spiritual excellence.
In our study we are now consider-
ing Heaven's spiritual provisions for
preparing the church and keeping
the church for the triumphal return
of Christ when she will be home at
last—in Eden restored, "Paradise Re-
gained."
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
1.
"I Am With You"
(Matt. 28:20)
2.
"Make You Clean"
(Isa. 1:16)
3.
"Every Word"
(Matt. 4:4)
4.
"Not Forsaking"
(Heb. 10:25; 1 John 1:7)
5.
Angels in Charge
(Ps. 91:11, 12)
6.
He Will Perform It
(Phil. 1:6)